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Giant anteater
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| Order Xenarthra: sloths, armadillos,
and anteaters
The old name for this
order, Edentata (="toothless") has been replaced by the more
appropriate term Xenarthra. Among living species, only the anteaters
(superfamily Myrmecophagoidea) are toothless. All living species are New
World mammals, the largest being the giant anteater Myrmecophaga
tridactyla (shown at left), which reaches a length of 120 cm/3'
7" and a weight up to 40 kg/83 pounds. |
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| Xenarthra
share the following characters: Females have a common urogenital duct;
toes all strongly clawed; testes interior, between bladder and rectum;
double posterior vena cava. |
Giant anteaters use a long, sticky
tongue to capture the huge quantities of ants and termites. The huge front
claws easily open concrete-hard termite mounds, and serve as effective
weapons o self-defense. |
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